Display stands, showcases, vitrines and shelving systems come in a variety of configurations and styles. Depending upon the nature of the articles to be displayed, many utilize sections of shelves affixed to a supporting wall or pedestal. By far the most common shelf support used in these types of displays is the slotted standard, which is essentially a metal channel with a column of vertical slots. Various shapes and styles of shelf bracket are designed to fit these standards, each bracket being provided with one, two or three barbed or hooked flanges spaced to fit into the slots in the standard. An example is illustrated in FIG. 4.
While the slotted standard provides a certain degree of versatility in the height at which the shelves can be mounted, it is impossible to make fine adjustments to the attitude or alignment of the shelves. Even if the slotted standard could be made and hung with a high degree of precision, it would be virtually impossible to ensure that shelves are mounted perfectly level or completely aligned. Many display units used today are primarily designed with aesthetic considerations in mind, and where the shelves cannot be properly levelled, or properly aligned with adjacent shelves, the effect sought to be created can be substantially diminished or become seriously disturbing visually.
For cantilevered shelf support brackets, particularly in the case of glass shelves where resilient pads are interposed between the bracket and the shelf to prevent chipping and scratching, it is simply not possible to anticipate the attitude that the mounted shelf will assume under its own weight. This problem becomes more acute as the depth of the bracket decreases relative to the depth of the shelf and the shelf becomes correspondingly more cantilevered. Because much of the aesthetic appeal in a display can be attributed to the absence of visible hardware, there is a clear preference in decorative displays toward the use of smaller shelf brackets, which are inconspicuous and more readily concealed. This results in an attendant decrease in the accuracy with which the shelves can be mounted.
Moreover, conventional shelf brackets of this type are designed to be mounted on slotted standards which are affixed vertically. The shelves mount to the standard at right angles to be supported horizontally. Where the surface upon which the standard is to be hung is not vertical, the shelves will not be properly level and custom made brackets designed specifically for the angle of the supporting surface must be used.
Examples of some decorative displays are illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 illustrates an four-sided display unit with separate shelves mounted in each quadrant of the display. The shelves of each quadrant must not only be substantially level, but must be properly aligned with the shelves on either side in order to provide the intended visual appeal. Similarly, FIG. 2 illustrates a multiple-shelf display unit in which the shelves can be mounted back-to-back on a transparent support wall made of glass or acrylic. If the shelves are not mounted exactly level the misalignment becomes very pronounced when viewed through the transparent support wall. FIG. 3 illustrates a display unit with an oblique support wall. A conventional shelf bracket is wholly unsuitable for this unit, because the slotted standards are not oriented vertically and the shelf will therefore not be suspended horizontally.